Breaking News: Gambian Catholics took their Stand; Went through Arch 22 in Defiance

In what is a usual tradition for the Catholic Church; every Sunday after Easter the entire Diocese gather to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday in which they process from the Kombos into Banjul singing praise to God and praying. The procession started without incident until they were entering Banjul the capital when they were confronted by Security forces who wanted to know why the procession was going through the Arch. All hell broke loose, the Catholics stood their ground and were ready for confrontation with the security forces. They made it clear that in no uncertain terms were they going to change their route. They yelled, “We are Gambians and have a right in this country like anybody else. The security forces upon seeing the reaction of the congregation immediately retreated. What we cannot confirm is if orders were given for them to retreat, but they did.

A political analyst in Banjul reached for this story moments ago told us that “this is how religious turmoil begins.” Even though a Muslim, He said the confrontation was unwarranted and a gross violation of their right to practice their religion freely; something they have been doing since the 1800’s. He added that its a time bomb waiting to explode particularly at a time when the President just said a bill to impose Sharia law is on its way to the National Assembly.

Gainako can revert to the press release issued a few weeks ago by the Knights of St. Peter and Paul who expressed their concern over limitations on the way they worship. Well, relatively less than a month after the press release, their fears have been confirmed. An elder in the congregation who spoke to our Banjul correspondent spoke had this to say; “We are ready for anything. We are Gambians and have a right like any other Gambian to practice our faith. Any attempt to introduce Sharia Law in this country will be met with our blood. After all, Jesus Christ spilled His blood to save mankind; if our Savior saved us with his blood, we too are ready to protect our faith.” Another chimed in with these words, “Yahya Jammeh is very ungrateful, after all; if it were not for the Catholics he would not have been here today. He was raised and fed with hard earned Catholic money and this is how he repays the Catholics, Chey Aduna.”

Gainako is following the situation and continue to encourage the Christian community to continue to confront tyranny and injustice. The Gambia is a Secular Country as stated in the 1997 constitution and no one person has the authority to change the status of the country to an Islamic Republic. The National Assembly, the Judas wing of the AFPRC Government are eagerly waiting to endorse the bill to impose Sharia law; a very scary situation for our Christian brothers and Sisters and all Gambians must rise up and take on this Tyrant together with his cohorts and enablers.